Theatre Southwest’s SUPERIOR DONUTS is Excellent Production of Mediocre Play

I am a serious Tracy Letts fan. I think he is one of the brightest playwrights working in the theatre today. So it was with great enthusiasm and much excitement that I caught the Houston premiere of Letts’ Superior Donuts at Theatre Southwest which begins its fifty-sixth season with this production. In short, I was disappointed with Letts’ Superior Donuts. The play is definitely not one of Mr. Letts’ best plays. However, it is Mr. Letts’ most hopeful play because no one dies as is the norm in a Tracy Letts play.

The play takes place in a rundown Chicago donut shop operated by a man who is an older hippie, Arthur, whose past has worn him out and who, reluctantly, hires a black man, Franco, who carries a past of his own. It’s not just donuts that are featured here but customers and passersby, constantly reminding us that our lives are a mixture of the past and the promise of the future. Mr. Letts is a great writer of dialogue and he certainly develops his characters well if perhaps too well in some cases. Case in point, the main character, Arthur, is a very quiet man but delivers perhaps five short rather dull monologues to the audience, thereby breaking the fourth wall, all of which gives us a good picture of his past. These moments not only break the sense of reality of life in the donut shop but, in my opinion, serve no particular purpose except to further enlighten us about Arthur’s life, information that we do not even require to appreciate this play. I suppose these monologues serve to clue us in on the real Arthur beneath his silent routine. So why not make these moments as thoughts that Arthur is having in his head instead of breaking the fourth wall and addressing the audience, which takes Arthur and his ruminations out of his head and into the audience? Couldn’t Franco have gotten some of this information out of Arthur through everyday conversation? Perhaps this was a directorial decision by Trevor B. Cone to stage the monologues to the audience. Suffice it to say, it does not work for me. It fights the stark reality of life in the donut shop and appears to be just a cheap and meaningless theatrical trick.

That said, Superior Donuts stumbles slowly forward with a rather long and uninteresting first act. What makes the play work in spite of Letts’ rather uninspired writing are the beautiful performances by virtually every actor in the play. The second act is full of raw action and resembles a Sam Shepard play speeding toward its critical point. At times, I felt the play was far too melodramatic and too much like a soap opera, full of forced and seemingly unnatural situations. Much of the play is peppered with humor that works but even the humor feels rather like a sitcom at times.

The best thing about Theatre Southwest’s production is the palpable rapport between the two leads. As Franco, Sam Flash is always a miracle of animation, busting out ecstatic dance moves at any sign of approval, quipping and exhorting with a breathlessness that is just as dizzying and dazzling. He is a charmer if not a con, and he works overtime to get a reaction from Arthur, who, as brilliantly played by John William Stevens, is withdrawn yet not impervious to this young man’s charisma. This old progressive’s dried-up heart can still be touched and Mr. Stevens finds every nuance, every detail, and every necessary component to create a stunning tour de force performance.

The supporting actors are all impressive, intuitive, and provide the true substance of life in and around the donut shop. Scott Holmes as Max, the Russian immigrant who continuously hounds Arthur to buy his space so he can expand his storefront, could not be more impressive and excessive with his perfect Russian accent and his domineering persona and an egregious sense of humor. Vicky McCormick as Officer Randy Osteen is sensitive, seductive without being pushy, and wonderfully human. Osbie Shepard as Officer James Bailey is bigger than life, forceful, and imbued with a heart of gold. Bobbie Giachini as Lady Boyle, the senior citizen struggling with sobriety who frequents the donut shop, has some of the best lines in the play and delivers them charmingly, realistically, and beautifully. Tiernan O’Quinn as Luther Flynn exerts just the right amount of angst and furor for a bookie who is owed a huge amount of money by Franco. Scott McWhirter as Kevin, Luther’s henchman, is formidable and creepy. The handsome Norm Dillon as Kiril, Max’s sidekick, is strong, strong-minded, and speaks perfect Russian.

Direction by Trevor B. Cone needs quicker pacing to make the play sing a brighter, livelier song. The play falls flat during Arthur’s monologues which could have been shortened or cut altogether or more brightly delivered and there was too much setup before scenes actually begun which killed the pace and the flow. Otherwise, Mr. Cone’s casting choices are splendid.

Correction: Since this review was published, I was informed that the playwright specifically calls for Arthur’s monologues to be delivered to the audience and, therefore, this was not a directorial decision.